February 17, 2010

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyondany experience,your eyes have their silence:in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,or which i cannot touch because they are too nearyour slightest look easily will unclose methough i have closed myself as fingers,you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first roseor if your wish be to close me, i andmy life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,as when the heart of this flower imaginesthe snow carefully everywhere descending;nothing which we are to perceive in this world equalsthe power of your intense fragility:whose texturecompels me with the color of its countries,rendering death and forever with each breathing(i do not know what it is about you that closesand opens;only something in me understandsthe voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

1 comment:

let's start with a bold statement: he was the most ingenious american poet of the 20th century.

let's continue with how he captures such intense feeling in a single quasi-sensical phrase:i carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)

we'll then move on to the wonder with which he sums up the entire human condition (with up so many floating bells down)

don't forget that he perfectly captures the heady first days of new love (i like my body when it is with yourbody.)

almost finished when we talk about how lewdly hilarious he was (may i feel said he)

and finally we'll stand in amazement at his ability to deconstruct the building blocks of syntax and language and put them back together--bigger than the sum of their cold, dry parts-- hot, pulsing, alive.

epilogue: "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting."

somehow i had forgotten that i love cummings. thank you for reminding me sweet sassy k.

About Me

Hi. I recently moved to NYC with my husband and kitty. I'm still trying to concoct a life plan. I like white kitchen cabinets, clothes, peoplewatching, bookshelves, dancing, food, and things that sparkle. Restaurant donations are welcome. Reality checks are discouraged.